Development of a Renewable Energy Storage System using Reinforced Concrete Foundations

The objective of this project is to develop a reliable, safe and economic renewable energy storage media utilizing one of building structural components: the reinforced concrete (RC) foundation system. The proposed RC foundation system, traditionally used for transferring structure loads into soils or rocks underground, will be configured to store renewable energy generated from solar panels or wind mills attached to building structures through the compressed air energy storage (CAES) technology. The RC foundation system developed from this project can be incorporated as an important component into next generation CO2 free building structures to improve sustainability of building structures and minimize negative environmental impacts.